Tsuki no Hitokoro: Assassins Of The Moon
by the Red Nothing
Summary: The companion and continuation of Hatashenai. After a confrontation with a face from the past and a confession, Tasuki, Chichiri, Knei-Gong and Rasconza race to the palace... But there's more to Rasconza than anyone suspects... Even herself. (MUST read Ha
1. Ai to Kako (Love and Past)

  
Disclaimer: I do not own Tasuki, Chichiri, or Knei-Gong. They are creations of Watase Yuu (BTW, Ms. Watase, I'M MORE INSANE THAN YOU!!!). Tsing-Ka is also a creation of Watase Yuu; I just gave him the name. Karasuki, Subaru, and any other member names of the Byakko no Seishi were created by, well, whoever created those constellations! However, I got the names out of a graphic novel by WATASE YUU AGAIN!! Still, the characters themselves are mine. Rasconza and several of the Ligé-San bandits are totally, utterly, MIIIIIIINE!!  
  
  
(A/N: Ah, Part 2! I needed to make new parts, because this is going to be less and less of a comedy but... Oh well! Don't worry, I'm going to keep the Watase-esque humor for sure :).  
  
(I screwed up. GENBU's color is green; Byakko's is white. Therefore, please note the following:  
(The black-robed dude's cheek should have been glowing white.  
(Karasuki's weapon should have been white, too.  
  
(And finally, these are my OWN versions of the Byakko no Seishi. I'm using completely different versions then the ones that appear in Fushigi Yuugi. Also, thanks to Lola for helping me pick out a cool, authentic Japanese name for Karasuki's weapons and to everyone else who's sent me those great reviews. ^^)  
  
  
Tsuki no Hitokoro  
  
~Assassins Of The Moon  
  
  
oO;;   
  
"Did the Boss just say... What I THINK he said?!" Knei-Gong gasped out of the side of his mouth. Miroka nodded dumbly.  
  
Rasconza felt as if she were burning up. Everything hurt so much... Her mind, her body... But as long as she was right here, with him, everything would be all right...  
  
"Tasuki, I..." She toyed with one of the necklaces around his neck, the one with the medallion. "I... I love you too..." She looked up at him and smiled weakly. "I'm just scared at the moment... And you'll let me be scared, right?"  
  
He chuckled softly. "Damn woman, when did you get so submissive?" He grinned, then gave her a gentle smile. "Yeah, we all get scared..." He cupped her face in his hands. "I'll protect you... An' you keep my ass outta' trouble, too. Deal?" He brought his face closer.  
  
Rasconza closed her eyes. "Deal..."  
  
*AHEM!*  
  
Rasconza and Tasuki whipped their heads away. "Whoever did that is gonna' have one HELL of a time explainin'..."  
  
"Er, Boss," mumbled Tsing-Ka nervously as he stared at the wooden floor. "I'm really sorry an' stuff but... Where's the monk guy?"  
  
Rasconza stood up, leaning on Tasuki's shoulder. "Y'mean Chichiri? I dunno... Yer right though, he'd prolly 'ave been here..." She turned to look at the still-flushed Tasuki and stifled a snicker. "Whaddya' think, Tasuki?"  
  
"Ano... Oh, yeah." He stuttered. "You'd think he'd've come when he heard you yell like that..."  
  
"Tasuki no da!! Over here!!"   
  
"Speak of the devil," Tasuki growled under his breath. 'I'm never gonna' git a chance to do this at this rate...' "OK, he's outside, let's go!"  
  
  
~*~  
  
Karasuki bounded through the night. He'd failed to bring Shu back to his father, but he'd scared her. He had a feeling that "wild fighting spirit," of hers wouldn't be seeing any action for quite some time now...  
  
He froze. Literally. Suspended in midair and unable to move his head, his eyes darted about wildly, searching for his invisible assailant lurking in the moonless night.  
  
"I see you need to work on focusing your chi no da," a deep voice said quietly, almost scarily calm. A tall blue-haired man appeared out of the shadows. Karasuki knew by his dress that the man was a Bhuddist monk. He also knew, by the huge scar that closed his left eye permanently, that this man was named Ri Houjin.  
  
Or Chichiri. One of the two living Suzaku no Seishi, and arguably the more dangerous of the two.  
  
"What do you want, Suzaku Warrior?" A soft chuckle emitted from the calm figure. It wasn't cruel-sounding or mirthful; More bemused...  
  
"Me? What about _you_? I'm not the one who just attacked his own sister in the dead of night..."  
  
Chichiri tapped the butt of his staff hard on the ground. Once, twice.  
  
*WHUMP!*  
  
Karasuki fell to the earth  
  
"What are you doing here?"   
  
"I'm not here," Karasuki said calmly. "I'm back in Sairou." Chichiri smiled.  
  
"No you're not. I know a lifeforce when I sense one." Karasuki grinned. Boy, was he bluffing. He knew how strong the Suzaku no Seishi were...  
  
"Well done, for a birdie's toy," he stated quietly as the night wind whipped his silver hair about. Chichiri didn't flinch. Karasuki knew he was utterly wasting his breath on any form of insult, even to lower moral, to make the monk think he was stronger and more confident than the truth. This guy was too damn good.   
  
"We needed my dear little ni-chan fer somethin' Subaru-sama is 'working' on..." Karasuki smiled. "We need all people who have connections to the Four Gods by blood.... Seishis or children of seishis, brothers or sisters or mothers or fathers of seishis... But I really don't have time for this." His hand reached into the pouch he had at his waist. "So I'll have you play with the Hanonigaishin!! Adeau!"  
  
*BWZOOP!!*  
  
The white disks that the lithe man used to attack Rasconza flew at Chichiri.  
  
*Swoop! THWACK! Ch-CHANK! Shwoop!! THWACK THWACK!*  
  
His staff a blur, Chichiri easily knocked aside all of the "Hanonigaishin". He watched the glowing disks follow the fleeing Karasuki into the night.  
  
"Bastard," he mumbled under his breath as he slipped his mask back on. Still....  
  
"Tasuki no da!! Over here!!"  
  
A few minutes later, Tasuki stumbled through the mountain's shabby garden with Rasconza, Tsing-Ka, Knei-Gong, and Hwa-Miroka. Rasconza was a bit wobbely, so Tasuki was supporting her. The Phantom Wolf had one arm around Rasconza, holding her up, the hand of his other arm closed over hers, and a slightly ticked-off look on his face, as if Chichiri had interrupted something important.  
  
"WHAT?" Huan-Lang hissed. Chichiri sighed. Something VERY important.  
  
"Now's not the time to be angry no da. I need to know: When was the last time you heard from the palace of Empress Houki no da?"  
  
Tasuki froze. "What the #$^! does it matter?!"   
  
Chichiri solemnly took off his mask and stared into Tasuki's eyes, making sure he had the seishi's complete attention.  
  
"I fear for Prince Boushin."  
  
  
(A/N: Now, though this is fairly obvious, I'm going to state it anyway: When Karasuki refers to Chichiri's "dress", he means what he was dressed like, NOT an actual dress.... -_-;;  
  
(Sairou is the Japanese name for the western kingdom, land of Byakko. If anyone can dig up the Chinese name for it, I'd be REALLY grateful...  
  
(Oh, and Karasuki's weapon, the "Hanonigaishin," means "The Bitter Teeth Of Death". I actually got the idea for it while cleaing away coffee coasters from the table ^^;;;;)  
  



	2. Uso no Kurai (lie of darkness)

(A/N: I lied to you in a previous A/N. Sorry folks!! It had to be done 'cause I was gettin' so much mail regarding it, and I didn't want to spoil it for you guys (I had the whole thing pretty well thought-out from the beginning, believe it or not). Oh, and Tasuki actually SAYS the "f-word" during this chapter instead of the usual #$%!@. Lastly, I've switched to the Japanese names, which I meant to do it part one but forgot. I'm doing it because Kouji is fun to say ^^. Tsing-Ka, therefor, when we see him next, will be Tsuka. Next chapter I'll give you a chart of everything, I promise ^^;;;;;;))  
  
Tsuki no Hitokoro  
  
~Assassins Of The Moon  
  
  
*Badumpbadumpbadumpbadump*  
  
*Ba-DUMP! Ba-DUMP! Ba-DUMP!*  
  
Rasconza HATED riding horses. ESPECIALLY horses moving THIS fast.  
  
She latched on harder to Tasuki, who, on this particular ride, was a little uneasy himself, for more reasons than one. These reasons included:  
  
1) He had no regrets about 'fessing up to Rasconza at all, but was a bit peeved at himself for doing so when a lot of the guys were watching. There hadn't been much, if any, time for conversation after their initial shock, so he had no frikkin' clue how the guys were gonna' react to it. Possibly with large blunt objects...  
2) He was having trouble breathing, because unlike your typical Frightened Damsel In Distress, Rasconza had one helluva grip.  
3)This particular horse that he was riding to be the brother of the one that had died the night before. The one that kept boxing gloves in its saddlebag...  
4) The Prince Boushin, according to Chichiri, could be in grave danger.  
  
After a quick conversation, Tasuki, Rasconza, Chichiri, and Kouji had mounted horses and sped off toward the palace.   
  
In the absence of Chiriko, Chichiri had always saved lives with his brains, and now was no exception.   
  
"Karasuki said to me that he and Subaru were looking for anyone who had any blood relation to a god. Seishis and their children, parents, siblings, or any blood relation no da. In that case, we should fear for Prince Boushin's safety na no da."  
  
At this rate, it was going to take them another hour, and they couldn't possibly go any faster, nor keep up this speed. The stallion's body was slick with sweat, and Tasuki wasn't doing too much better himself.  
  
"All right ya stupid horse," he said flatly. "Good job. Y'ken walk now." The horse slowed to a walk, and Rasconza exhaled deeply and relaxed her grip on him. Tasuki could feel the color come back to his face.  
  
"Oi, Chichiri!" She called over her shoulder to the monk who was riding on the same blue mare he had been the evening before. She had returned to the hideout just as the quartet were about to leave, miraculously unharmed. "How much longer 'till we git to the palace? These old sacks o' bones have gotta' rest up..."  
  
Chichiri did not answer, and Rasconza knew it was because he was thinking. They could've done it almost instantaneously if his kasa hadn't have been destroyed, and he wouldn't have been able to warp them all there using his kesa; It was too far away, and there were certain barriers there against any and all forms of magic. It wouldn't have been TOO much longer by horse at the speed they had been going, but it would've been stupid to think the horses could have kept up that pace for long. If they continued at a walk, they'd be there by morning. If they stopped to sleep, they'd lose time.  
  
"We keep going no da," Chichiri stated firmly. "We'll be there by morning no da."  
  
Rasconza groaned loudly and buried her face into the back of Tasuki's cloak. All night on a horse. Whoopie...   
  
"All right, I'll lead fer a little while," said Kouji. trotting up to the front of the group. He winked at Tasuki as he passed him. "You folks jes' relax fer a bit." Tasuki seriously considered flaming Kouji to an annoying crisp.  
  
Still, at least he hadn't been too disgusted or surprised to say anything, Tasuki thought with a grin. Same old Kouji. That was good. This might work out after all...  
  
He heard Rasconza's breathing become for level and her grip relax further. But she was still holding on. Smiling, he patted her hand.  
  
"The Boss is in loooooooooooooove," mocked Kouji. Tasuki gave him the Mother Of All Deathglares.  
  
Oh yes, saaaaame old Kouji...  
  
"Your ass is soooo dead," growled Tasuki dangerously as he shook his fist angrily at his snickering friend. Rasconza moaned behind him and rapped him on the head with her knuckles.  
  
"OW! What the - - - - was THAT for!?"   
  
"Quit rocking the boat," she murmured groggily before she slumped back against the curve of Genrou's back.  
  
*Zzz~*  
  
Tasuki kept on going forward, though Rasconza was somewhat of a distraction to him. It was actually kind of neat (a pansy word), now that he thought about it: Here he was, worrying about what she'd think, and BOOM! Turns out she felt the same way!  
  
He obviously had never read any modern romance novels from Miaka's world.  
  
He was prevented from any further thoughts by a large blow to the back of his head.  
  
  
  
  
***********************  
  
"Glurb..." Murmured Rasconza groggily as she opened her eyes, then prayed to the four gods to erase her mistake and make it as though she hadn't. Her head was KILLING her...  
  
She looked around the dark, dank room, the cold stone floor biting her sore flesh. She could see hear nothing, see nothing. She was lying face-first on the floor, her nose pressed to stone, and her body crushed by a sea of nothingness. She slowly sat up and allowed her eyes to adjust to the dark. There wasn't much to see, though pretty much the only thing she could make out were iron bars, marring their way, and walls with a faint red hue to them. The whole place smelled of mold. She shivered and hugged her shoulders. It was cold...  
  
She felt warm breath on her neck and a hand fall on her shoulder.  
  
*FWAP! THUNK!*  
  
Rasconza neatly flipped the man over her back and pinned him to the ground, clutching his throat in one of her hands.   
  
"Where are we?" She hissed at him, her eyes glinting dangerously in the dark.   
  
Without responding, the man grabbed her around the waist with a grip so strong it shocked her into letting go. She saw his silhouette sit up and before she knew it, he had swung her into the air, sending her crashing down into his lap.  
  
"Hello to you too, Rassy." The man whispered softly into her ear. She sighed in relief.  
  
"Tasuki? Oi, what're we doin' here?!" He gave her an exasperated sigh as he removed one hand from her waist to run it through his flaming hair.  
  
"How th' hell should I know? All I know's that I don't have my tessen, Kouji's dead unconscious, and Chichiri's sittin' in the goddamn corner over there, just meditatin' like an asshole!" He let out a loud "humph".  
  
Rasconza started. She HAD felt lighter than usual when she woke up, though at the time she'd attributed it to a blow to the head. A quick glance at her body confirmed her suspicions: She'd been stripped of the twenty-odd knives she always carried with her, including the ones she kept in her boots, headband, and inside her tunic. She grinned. Unlike the boys back at Ligé-San, whoever ran this show hadn't been too noble to check her thoroughly for weapons. She decided not to tell Tasuki this, though, because he'd probably just plain explode...  
  
Rasconza let her eyes stray from Tasuki's agitated (yet still strangely cute) face to the corner in question. Sure enough, there was the unmistakible plume of hair that could only belong to Chichiri, who was, as it appeared from his shadow, sitting crosslegged, and chanting faintly. She looked back at the Phantom Wolf, who was muttering a stream of curses under his breath.  
  
She continued to gaze at him with a rougish grin on her face until he looked up by chance and noticed her. He glared at her.   
  
"Well." She stated. Tasuki raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Well what?" Rasconza's smile softened as she wrapped her arms around the bandit's neck.   
"Well," she whispered. "Do you think we'll be bothered HERE?" Her eyes darted about nervously, as if she expected the entire hoard of Ligé-San bandits to pop out at any moment.   
  
'Damn, women ARE all the same,' Genrou thought in mild annoyance. 'This isn't the time OR the place and...'  
  
*Ba-Dump!*  
  
Tasuki grinned as he brushed the hair out of her face. 'Then again, what better time than the present?'  
  
"Naw," he said quietly as he brought his mouth closer to hers and slid his hands up to halfway down her back. Damn, when had he gotten so frikkin' soft???   
  
Well, he was beyond the point of being soft. He was currently at the point of being soft and not giving a damn.  
  
She held wrapped an arm around his shoulders, her free hand on the back of his head, running her fingers through his unruly fiery hair.   
  
"I don't know what you did to me, Rassy," he said softly as he tilted her chin up to him with a single finger, "but I sure as hell ain't complaining."  
  
She closed her eyes and pulled him closer. And as their li-  
  
"NAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNIIII!!!!!!!!!?!?!??!?!!"  
  
A shrill feminine cry came screaming into the cell from outside their prison. Rasconza sighed heavily and let her head drop onto Tasuki's shoulder in defeat, sweatdropping. Tasuki just kinda' sat there with his lips parted, blinking awkwardly.   
  
"And the odds of that were WHAT...?" Tasuki snapped out of it, cursed his foul luck, and then listened intently. The speaker sounded strangely familiar...  
  
"The PRISONORS were carrying these?!" She shouted at whoever was in the room with her. Kouji sat up abruptly right next to Genrou.  
  
"WHAT THE FU-"  
  
Rasconza bopped him soundly on his skull. Tasuki shook his head and grinned.   
  
  
  
"Y-yes Houki-sama," someone stammered. Tasuki and Rasconza both guessed (correctly) that it was a gaurd of some sort. "There were three men and a woman, Houki-sama. They looked suspicious so we-"  
  
"Houki...!" Breathed Tasuki. They were going to be fine! No stupid rag-tag escape attempts, no sacrifices, NOTHING. But why was the kind Empress so grouchy? Was it that time of the...?  
  
"And did you two happen to notice anything ODD about the men that carried THESE?!" Tasuki's keen ears picked up the faint sound of something metallic clanking together.  
  
"N-No Houki-sama," A different voice was stammering nervously. Tasuki heard an exasperated sigh from the Empress.  
  
Light streamed into the room, and the form of The Empress Lady Houki was framed in the doorway, carrying a tessen and a monk's staff. She began to unlock the cells hurriedly.  
  
"They're new," she stated simply. And that said it all.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The three bandits and the monk sat down in the Imperial Palace to eat. The soldiers who had attacked them were feeling pretty stupid for having attacked two of the greatest heroes of all time, but Tasuki just shut them up.  
  
"Shit happens," he stated plainly. The soldiers were horrified at his language in their Empress' presence. Chichiri sweatdropped.  
  
"Ano... He means it's not a problem no da!" He yanked his buddy out of the room by the crook of the arm while Koji leaned against the wall in a corner, snickering  
  
Rasconza had recollected her knives. She discovered that when she had been brought in with the others unconcious, the guards had some of the palace women search her. 'They're gentlemen here,' thought Rasconza. 'But a true gentleman can't kill a human being..."  
  
The meal was delicious, and they enjoyed it very much. But something was amiss; No one spoke, no one laughed, no one even smiled. It was Chichiri who finally broke the silence.  
  
"Houki-sama, Prince Boushin isn't here, is he?"   
  
*CLATTER!*  
  
The cup the beautiful Empress had been drinking from fell from her hand and shattered. She buried her face in her hands and began to cry softly.  
  
"We were too late," breathed Rasconza, setting a piece of meat she had been eating down as she watched the imperial woman sob. She turned to Genrou with a pained expression, her eyes soft for once. He stared at the Empress, no expression at all on his face.  
  
"I think," he said in a voice just above a growl, cold eyes glistening dangerously. "You should leave now..."  
  
The servants who had been serving their meal blinked a few times before they realized who the fiery young hero was referring to. They hurriedly fled from the room, some squealing.  
  
'Damn girls,' thought Tasuki. He still didn't like most.  
  
"When did they come?" Chichiri asked levelly, removing his mask. Houki continued to sob as Kouji tried to comfort her by patting her on the shoulder.  
  
"'s OK," he said. "We'll get yer kid back..." Funny thing, an Empress getting consoled by a bandit, but it was a noble bandit, and right now, anything could help.  
  
"He came two days ago," Houki sobbed out. Rasconza flinched and turned away. She knew who the Empress meant by "he". "A silver-haired man with warpaint on his cheeks... Th-The servant girls were quite taken with him -said he was quite 'bishounen', so I let him stay... And then in the morning..." She choked on her words.   
  
"Both His Majesty and my brother were gone." A loud sob, bordering on a scream, confirmed what Rasconza had said.   
  
"Hotohori was my world... Boushin-chan is my world now... B-But without him...!" She buried her face in her arms on the elaborate dining table. "I want my son back!! I want him to be safe!!" It was all she could choke out as the three men looked on in pity.   
  
Rasconza was staring out of the window, out into the courtyard, into space. She didn't face the ruler of the country she now lived in as she spoke:  
  
"That was my own brother, Karasuki. He an' I were insepri'ble, Your Majesty... 'Til that bastard Subaru showed up, if you'll pardon my Kansai, M'Lady." She clenched her fists at her sides. "But I'll give ya this: That bastard may be a Byakko Shichiseishi, but so was Toroki, my FATHER! And even though that's my own brother...!" Her teeth were grinding together. She shut her eyes tightly to prevent the tears from flowing freely, telling herself to be strong, and Genrou would let her be weak in a moment. A scared little girl. But for now, she would roar her oath to the heavens: "If it means getting yer kid back, I'll kill him!!"  
  
There was no sound at all for a moment. Her Majesty then spoke three words that smashed the four friends apart:  
  
"You are lying."  
  
?!  
  
Rasconza spun around, her hair whipping against her cheeks to stare at the stotic-faced Empress. Her friends were just as bewildered as she was.   
  
"You're lying," Houki repeated, tears streaming down her face. "I wanted to trust you, you appeared to be close to Tasuki, but it doesn't change the fact that you're lying."  
  
"What the he- ITAI!" Rasconza slumped a bit, clutching at her chest and breathing heavily as beads of sweat began to form on her forehead.  
  
"Rasconza!!!"   
  
Tasuki ran to her, but was thrown back by an invisible force. "Shit..." He mumbled. "RASCONZA!!!"   
  
Rasconza crouched on the ground, head down. The Empress was terrified, but continued to tell her tale with as much courage as she could muster. Which was quite a bit.  
  
"You could not be a child of Byakko!" She proclaimed as Rasconza's gasping turned to a strange, abnormal growl. Chichiri even looked stunned. "Don't you remember?! You told me yourselves!! Subaru is a woman!! She's Toroki's WIFE!"  
  
The Suzaku no Seishi gasped for a moment as the pain hit them. It felt like a great solid fog had been violently ripped from just beneath their foreheads. The spell had been broken.  
  
"THEY'RE ANCIENT!!" Houki shrieked. "SHE'S NO-"  
  
Houki's voice caught in her throat as Rasconza's head suddenly snapped up to glare at her.  
  
Her eyes had become angry slits, glowing white.   
  
"Ras...conza...?" Tasuki asked. 'No no no, this isn't fucking HAPPENING...!'  
  
A bizarre aura began to emit from Rasconza's body, a sinister purple-black glow. Her feet rose off of the ground, and she hovered in the air, growling.  
  
The dark light suddenly grew brighter, and the laces on the front of Rasconza's tattered red tunic flew off. Her outfit sagged, and there, on her chest, was a blazing symbol:  
  
"Tigress"  
  
Then, with one final snarl, the false Daughter Of Byakko fell exhausted to the ground.  
  
"RASCONZA!!" Tasuki flew to her, cradling her head in his lap. She reached up weakly to touch his cheek.   
  
"What's... Going on....Shun'u?" The first time she'd ever used his real name. Or his birthname, at least. "What's...happening...to-"   
  
Tasuki bit his lip until he could taste blood to stop himself from screaming. "Shh, don't talk Rassy... Don't..."  
  
Rasconza closed her eyes to the beating of a heart.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
((A/N: Kooky, ne? Oi, it's not as kowoi (scary) as you may think; I have referances and links via mythology to what's going on. It's not quite what it seems. Sorry if Houki was OOC: That's because (A), this is a crisis with her little boy, and (b) I've never seen her before ^^;;;;;; (I've only seen up to episode 36, but I've read summaries). Also, I'm just assuming that during some conversation in the first week that Rasconza stayed, Tasuki told her his name. (probably when he was talking about a time his mother had smacked him with her GIANT *ahem!* and he'd yelled at her and she'd scolded him...) Oi, and call me strange, but I could somehow hear Tokimeki playing when Houki tells Rasconza she's full of it.  
  
READERS: YOU'RE STRANGE!!!  
  
Me: ^^;;; Sayonara!!))  
  



	3. Does The Truth Hurt?

  
  
  
((A/N: As promised, here is my "chart", order being Chinese first, then Japanese, who/what it is, and, if I know, the meaning :  
  
Huan-Lang/Genrou/*if you dunno...* Tasuki's bandit alias/ "Phantasm Wolf"  
Knei-Gong/Kouji/Our cheek-scared pal, Tasuki's second in command/ "Young Victor"  
Rui-Ni/Eiken/The shtupid hentai dude/ "Imperial Likeness" *snickers*  
Tsing-Ka/Tsuka/ Emperor-Chasing bandit/I just made up the name ^^;;  
Ligé-San Mountain/Mt. Reikakuzan/the bandits' mountain/ "Strength Tower"  
  
((Important note: "Faggot" is a bundle of sticks, commonly used as a torch. I'm using it in a line where "match" would normally be used, because dere ain't no matches in ancient China!  
  
((Beware of sap! SAP SAP SAP SAP SAP SAP!! Touch of spice, but no one DOES anything. I can't write shtuff like that (I can barely write *this*)  
  
((Finally, notice anything about Tasuki? 'Yeah, he's OOC, y'punk!' *sweatdrop* Not really. What it is is character development. He's changing, as is everyone else in the story. THAT's why it's important to read all of the chapters carefully no da ^.^)  
  
((OK, on with da' fic :))  
  
  
Tsuki no Hitokoro  
  
~Assassins Of The Moon~  
  
Ptah-Shu awoke from her dreamless sleep in a good mood. Her father's friend and comrade-in-arms as a Byakko Shichiseishi, Uncle Subaru, had come to visit. She got up and began to walk across the huge empty wood-floored room to the sleeping form of her brother, yet didn't go anywhere. But she walked on.  
  
~*~Tasuki no da, I know you're worried about Rasconza... We all are...~*~  
  
Shu finally reached her brother, but he wasn't there. In his place was a simple kasa.  
  
~*~Ya haven't slept in three days, Genrou...~*~  
  
She shrugged and put the kasa on. She walked outside into her family's eating-room and was shocked and horrified at what she saw. It was a man in a great black cloak, with a blood soaked sword, looming over her father. Her mother lay crumpled on the floor, a broken breakfast-plate still in her rigid hand. Her father was backed up against the wall, too shocked to be brave. He began to stammer.  
  
~*~Why, dammit?! Why her?!!!!! What the hell is going ON?!~*~  
  
"Wh-Why?"   
  
"Because," the man said in an eerily familiar voice, ""Because people are just pitiful, Pops. So damn pitiful and wretched it ain't even funny."  
  
  
  
~*~Just go away guys...~*~  
  
Shu watched in horror as the man dropped the sword and released two white disks, neatly severing her father's head. The killer walked outside.  
  
~*~Rassy... Come back to me...~*~  
  
'Who's Rassy?' Shu thought as she charged after the man outside. She clenched a fist. 'More importantly, why the hell do I CARE at a time like this?!' She dashed out the door to avenge her family.  
  
"You!! The bastard 'n black!" The man seemed to be chuckling. He removed his hood slowly, and Shu froze for a moment, unable to do anything at all as the tears of total bewilderment fell down her face.  
  
"K-Kara...suki?"  
  
~*~I won't let ANYTHING happen to you... No matter who's trying to do it...~*~  
  
Karasuki was not the Karasuki she knew!! Not HER Karasuki! He was grown now, older than her seventeen-year-old brother!! His silvery hair was so long, his cheeks striped with blue warpaint. And his eyes were so... Evil...  
  
A tiny smirk twitched at his face.   
  
"Die."  
  
~*~Or how...~*~  
  
The Hanonigaishin sped toward her. She didn't move. She couldn't have moved in time at the speed it was going, anyway, and she wasn't sure she wanted to. As long as it all went away...  
  
SHWISH  
  
A black and orange blur flashed before her eyes, its loop about her accented with a gruesome red splash.. The man fell to the earth.  
  
~*~Or at what cost to m'self...~*~  
  
"Oh gods... Tasuki..." Shu had grown. She was Rasconza again. She stared at the body with the gashes across his chest, the man who had taken the blow for her.   
  
She felt it... She felt the symbol on her chest blaze. Her eyes became slits, her canines extended, and white fur began to cover her body. It hurt. It hurt when the rivers of hair erupted from her flesh, letting little crimson drops fleck at her demon face. She snarled and spat and growled as the claws formed, and she lost all remaining control. A low growl formed in her throat.  
  
~*~And I don't hate you fer what ya did... How the hell could I ever hate *you*...? You had no control... Just...~*~  
  
"DIE!!!"  
  
Her claws were imbedded in Karasuki's neck before she had finished the word. She stared at the dead figure on the horse in front of her. He was Karasuki, just like he'd been when he was seven. His eyes were wide with terror.   
  
And the only weapon he had was a fork.  
  
Rasconza began to cry. There came a soft moan from behind her. The fur reburied itself under her skin as she rushed over to Tasuki.  
  
"R-Rasconza?"  
  
The world vanished. It was a sea of gray, with a phantom wolf and a lone tigress at its center.   
  
"Y-Yeah?"  
  
"Do...me a favor...?" Warm blood began to trickle from his mouth, mingling with her tears that were dropping onto his face.  
  
"ANYTHING!" She cried, much louder than she'd intended to. Tasuki placed a finger over her lips.  
  
~*~Just...~*~  
  
"Just..." He gasped out as he squeezed her hand. "Just c..."  
  
**********************************************************  
  
"...ome back to me."  
  
The first thing Rasconza saw was a hazy orange blur.   
  
"Come on Rasconza... Dammit, why are ya DOIN this to me?!" She felt the futon underneath her wobble as Tasuki's head collapsed onto the bed as he knelt on the floor beside her. His face was buried in the covers, so he didn't notice when she opened her eyes and gazed at her right hand, dwarfed in his. It seemed to symbolize something important for her...  
'As strong as I try to be... He's right... I can't keep it up forever...'  
  
"Tasuki," she said aloud, softly. There was a shift of the covers as the bandit sat up and leaned over her, his hands on either side of her shoulders. He gazed down into her eyes intensley.  
  
"Sorry..." Tasuki raised an eyebrow.   
  
"For what?" Rasconza adverted her gaze.  
  
"Fer... Scaring ya like that. I didn't know I could do that either an' I didn't even know I could do that an' shit an' I'll try ta figure it out so please don-"  
  
He grabbed her shoulder tightly and pulled her up close to his face, silencing her with his finger. His eyes burned into hers. It was as if hot lamp oil was being poured onto her wherever he touched her.  
  
"You talk WAY too damn much."  
  
He kissed her, and it was as if someone had just set a faggot to her. He wasn't a gentle kisser, and he didn't try to hold back. He pulled her closer as they collapsed back onto the bed, kissing her fiercely. She could feel his infamous canines with her tongue, and managed to prick herself. All her mind allowed her to do was fall... fall to the sensation of loving him.  
  
'Ai shiteru... Ai shiteru...'  
  
"Konaban wa," came a familiar voice that Rasconza chose to ignore. "Who is it? It's me Kouji, coming to talk to Genrou! About what? Empress Houki says she's had it, and that you've gotta EAT, man! Oh, come in then!!" Kouji flung the doors open. "Ariga-WHOA!!" Kouji stood in the doorway, motionless, SD'd and sweatdropping.  
  
"Kouji," Tasuki said quietly without looking back. "Just hold that thought of yers, and I'll be right with ya..."  
  
"Uhm, yeah," murmured the wide-eyed bandit as he slowly retraced his steps backward toward the open door. "Sure... Thing..."  
  
*slam*  
  
Tasuki's form shook slightly with silent laughter, then became serious as he moved in to kiss Rasconza again. His heart was pounding in his head, but now he didn't mind. This time, he began to kiss the woman's neck, sending a trail of feathery kisses down to her shoulder...  
  
*SMACK!!*  
  
Tasuki stared blankly ahead. He blinked a few times. Stare. Blink blink. Rasconza looked back and forth from her hand to the huge palm-mark that was forming on Genrou's left cheek and back to her hand again.   
  
They burst out laughing at the same time. Rasconza had slapped him like a little girl!  
  
  
She sighed. "Sorry I... Norm'ly I wouldn't mind but..." She indicated her chest with a slight wave of her hand. "This thing I... I dunno if I have t' be... Well, ya know..." Tasuki nodded sagely as he sat up and made to leave.  
  
"Yah, I know. Well, yew rest up an' I'll-"   
  
*WHUMP!*  
  
Rasconza had pulled him back down by his short ponytail. "Baka, I never said ya had ta LEAVE..." She sighed and ran her fingers through his hair, a silly little thing that was slowly but surely becoming one of her most favorite things to do.... "Just don't try nothin' funny, or y'll find that empty space 'twixt yer ears filled in with a nice pointy object ..." She yawned. Genrou slid out of his "trench-coat" and wrapped an arm around her. The bandit sighed happily. Having her with him was wonderful feeling. He could have stayed like this forever, a total, utter softy, and not give a damn. Just as long as he could feel her chest rise up and down against him with every breath, hear her gentle heartbeat lull him to sleep.   
  
"Hey," he whispered softly into her hair. "When this shit's all done with, I gotta' ask ya somethin, okay?"  
  
Rasconza murmured something softly and snuggled her head into his chest. Soon she was asleep in his arms, dreaming happily about nothing at all.  
  
*************************************************  
  
"So yer sayin' ya have no damn clue what's going on?"   
  
The Empress Houki shook her head no. Everybody was awake now and gathered in the meeting hall of the Konan Palace, trying to figure out what the hell was happening with Rasconza.  
  
"As far as I know, there are only for gods, and twenty-eight seishi," Houki explained to Tasuki patiently. "You of all people should know that."  
  
Rasconza rolled her hazel eyes. "Yeah, yeah, we know that 'n shit. So explain what happened ta me last night, mm?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"Don't this place 'ave a library or somethin?" Inquired the newly-recovered Kouji. "I mean, if they have ANY stuff on other seishi's, wouldn't it be HERE?!" Houki's eyes lit up.  
  
"We do in fact!! It's the Doukan Library dowstairs!!"   
  
"Fittin' name," Tasuki huffed. Chichiri began to chuckle softly at the memory....  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
"Tasuki, PLEASE?" Chiriko asked while tugging on the menacing bandit's sleave. "The library's INCREDIBLE!!" Tasuki sweatdropped.   
  
"Chichiri," he hissed out of the corner of his mouth, "can you HELP me here?" Chichiri was, as always, grinning.  
  
"Why do you need help no da? It'd be fun to go into the library and read about all sorts of things!"  
  
Tasuki's screams rang through the night as the little boy dragged him through the palace hallways, down to the library. "BUT I _CAN'T_ REAAAAAAAD!!!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
So here Tasuki was, sitting in little Chiriko's favorite library again with Kouji and Rasconza, who he'd permitted (ok, so he hadn't exactly; She'd said she was coming or else but...) to come with them.  
They'd decided Chichiri should talk to the guards instead of them because, well, quite frankly, who's gonna' trust a bandit? The only other person in their quartet who could read was Rasconza, who should have been resting in Tasuki's not-so-humble opinion, but as she could read, she had to go with "the guys". Then again, these days she was prettty much considered one of "the guys" herself by 99.9 percent of the Mt. Reikakuzan bandits: The Official Guys consisted of Kouji, Genrou, and Rasconza. Mess with one and the other two will come to beat your ass into shape.  
  
Unfortunately for Rasconza, Guys A and B seemed to think that reading required a tremendous amount of strength and energy, so they had the blade-throwing bandit lady sit on a pile of crates while they searched scroll after scroll.  
  
"Grrr, damn stupid piece of paper!"  
  
*KICK!*  
  
*snatch!*  
  
Rasconza caught a parchment Kouji had kicked across the room in frustration. She sighed and unrolled it.  
  
"Tax documents from final year of Emperor Sahishta's reign to first year of Emperor Boushin," she read aloud quietly to herself. "That would have been... Three years ago? No, two. 'Cause that's-"  
  
"RASCONZA!!!"  
  
OO;  
  
"Genrou, I can hear ya from right _here_!" She wheezed out. It was amazing how the guy could make your heart pound one minute, then be a total moron the next. He glared at her.  
  
"I toldja' t'REST, dammit! No readin: Me 'n' Kouji'll figure it out." He gave her a fanged grin before turning back to his "brother".  
  
"OK, let's give these papers all we got!!" Rasconza buried her head in her hands as she prepared for the worst. She began praying that a certain other guy would show up soon...  
  
"DA!"  
  
She sighed in relief; Her prayers had been answered. Chichiri walked through the library over to Kouji and Tasuki, the latter seemingly ready to torch the entire library.  
  
"Oi, Chichiri, what didja find out?" Chichiri ignored Kouji as he scanned the shelves of scrolls. "I think I've found out plenty about..." He seemed to have spotted what he was looking for. He snatched it off the shelf and unrolled it. He stared at it for a moment before nodding to himself.  
  
"...Tei."  
  
?  
  
"'Tei'?" The bandits echoed. Chichiri nodded and spread the scroll out on a table.   
  
"I take it you all recognize this no da?" Chichiri asked the group. Even Kouji nodded vigorously.   
  
"Yeah, sure," he said. "'s the Star Chart. 'S got all twenny-eight constellations on it. What about it?" Chichiri shook his head.  
  
"Hai, it *does* have all twenty-eight constellations on it no da..." Even through his mask, the trio could tell the Suzaku Schichiseishi was staring at them intently. "But is that *all* it has...?" Kouji and Rasconza stared at him for a moment, but Tasuki's finger flew directly to the center of the chart.   
"That right there," he shouted. "That's the symbol that appeared on Rassy's chest!!" Chichiri nodded. "That would be the star Taishi no da," he stated calmly. "One of the six constellations of Tenkyokuu..."  
  
Rasconza's eyes widened as she stared at the symbol that had reappeared on her chest shining through her tunic. "Whaa...?"  
  
*SLAM!*  
  
"What the HELL is goin' on, Chichiri?!" Tasuki exclaimed as he slammed his fist onto the table. "Who's Tenkyokuu!? 'Sounds awful like Taikyoku t' me!! An' what the hell's happening t' Ra-" Chichiri actually bonked him on the head with his staff.  
  
"If you would BE QUIET, I could TELL you na no da...!" Tasuki fell silent and shuffled off to a corner, where he leaned against a wall and moped. Chichiri cleared his throat and began.  
  
"I'm going to need you all to listen quietly no da," he said as he removed his mask. He sometimes thought that it was pretty interesting that just by doing that, everyone's attention spans would lengthen by a mile. "This is a fairly long and complicated story. It's considered mostly a legend, mostly fiction, but then again, so were the tales of Genbu, Byakko, Suzaku, and Seiryu no da."  
  
The three bandits nodded dumbly.  
  
"We know that there are four gods: Genbu, The Green Tortoise God of Earth, who rules the north and the Kigdom of Hokkan; Suzaku, The Red Phoenix God of Fire, who rules the south and the Kingdom of Konan; Seiryu, The Blue Dragon God of Water, who rules the east and the Kingdom of Kutou; and Byakko, The White Tiger God of Metal, who rules the west and the Kingdom Of Sairou.  
  
"The six constellations in the center area, Tenkyokuu, have always been explained as just that; Constellations. Though they would never become seishi, people have legends that they each represented some sort of spirit, which would gaurd the center area, which we came to attribute to Mt. Taikyoku, Home Of The Oracle.  
  
"But I've traveled to many places, and they say that in ancient times, they worshiped a fifth god, Tenkyokuu. Tenkyokuu has been depicted as many beasts: A bull, a wolf, and even a griffin. Likewise, its 'color' has been purple, black, yellow, gold... But its element has always been the Void."  
  
"What's a void?" Kouji piped up. Rasconza bopped him soundly on the head.  
  
"Void is nothingness," continued Chichiri. "It's a bit hard to understand... It's beyond nothing... On that table, there seems to be nothing no da. But it is not Void; There is air still. If we were to suck out the air somehow, so there was NOTHING at all there.... It would be Void.  
  
"I've never heard of a tale of the Summoning of Tenkyokuu, if that's what you're thinking no da. I've hardly heard anything of their seishi, either, but I've heard bits and pieces of them..."  
  
Chichiri found himself interrupted by Tasuki. "I sure as hell think they're gonna try t'summon this 'god'."  
  
Rasconza rasied an eyebrow as Tasuki continued. "Well, THINK about it! They're goin' after alla' these people!! 'Blood of the Gods', right?! So these Rokuseishi guys 'ave gotta' all be related to Seishi, right?! So anyone with seishi family 'ave gotta' be frikkin CAREFUL! We've gotta' find their relatives an-"  
  
Tasuki's heart stopped.  
  
"Oh my god... My sisters!"  
  
  
((A/N: Arg NEVER make me write those romance scenes again! No daaaa!!   
  
(( Ba-bum-DUUM!! Ladies and gentlemen, I give you... THE ACTUAL PLOT!!! Oo; Hai, hai, we've got romance, but this is another major reason I split this fic up into two parts.  
  
((If you were wondering, yes, there *is* a fifth section of the Star Chart (and yeah, there is a star chart, too), and all of the Seishi names are accurate. I'd like to thank Tomo no Miko and the Suzaku Worshippers, whose sites helped me a LOT in the research on the fifth "god". Their sites can be found here, respectively:  
  
http://www.sempai.org/~felicia/fushigi.html (this site has the starchart. Check it ooooooooooout)  
  
http://www.onewingedangel.com/suzaku (this has often been called "the mother of all Fushigi Yuugi pages". I must say, it is incredible)  
  
((So, heeeeere we go; No more six chapters centered in Mt. Riekakuzan, no more scenes in which the villain just pops in to say "hi" -It's now a no-holds-bared, spar-filled, around-the-shijintenshisho action/adventure frenzy!!  
  
((Oh, wait a sec. *I* have to write this?? Oo; Daaaaaaaaaaaa....)  
  



End file.
